The present invention relates to sabots and more particularly to a one-piece sabot having an energy storage means to effect separation after launch.
The use of sabots to launch subcaliber projectiles from large-bore launchers results in many advantages, such as increased range, accuracy and penetrating force. Accordingly, considerable effort has been devoted to improving and refining sabot design.
In general the sabot must protect the projectile from shock during firing; it must form a tight gas seal to insure transmission of maximum driving force to the projectile; and it must not adversely affect the projectile flight. This last requirement means that, among other things, the sabot must separate cleanly and efficiently from the projectile at the proper time so as not to produce range-decreasing drag or other accuracy-decreasing forces. Furthermore, the sabot must not present undue debris hazards to the ground personnel after separation.
In addition to the above general requirements, it is highly desirable that the sabot be of simple construction, with a minimum of parts and be of wide adaptability. These features permit the sabot to be mass produced economically and be easily adapted for use with a large variety of projectiles and launchers.
Present sabot designs may be of one-piece design or be an assembly of numerous elements. The multiple-element designs are complex, more time-consuming to assemble, are more prone to failure, and cannot be readily adapted to different launcher requirements. The sabot disclosed in Engel, U.S. Pat. No. 3,359,905, is an example of the complex, multiple-element design.
During projectile launch a large quantity of energy is developed by the expanding gases acting upon the sabot and the projectile. Presently known sabots do not effectively utilize this energy to effect sabot separation, depending primarily upon drag, centrifugal force or some other means to separate the sabot from the projectile. Such separation methods adversely affect the projectile's range, accuracy and penetrating force. Nee, in U.S. Pat. 3,677,131, compresses a spring which is released after launch to separate the projectile from a launcher bulkhead. No energy of launch, however, is used in compressing the spring. In the aforesaid patent to Engel, a complex mechanism involves the use of a disk spring compressed during acceleration to unlock a projectile retaining ring, after which the spring helps the separation of the projectile from the sabot. But as already mentioned supra, the Engel sabot is complex and is of fixed design which renders wide adaptability to different launchers difficult.